Downtown store evolves with time

Fifty-five years ago, you could have walked into Edna Campbell's Bookstore and seen a young Al Srnka working behind the counter. Today you just might find him there again.

Srnka started working at Edna's as a freshman while attending Northeast Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Truman State University. Then, he worked with the original owner of the store, Edna Campbell. Now he owns the bookstore with his wife, Liz, who is also a Truman alumnus. The couple, who bought the store in 1961, have changed just about everything about the original store, including the inventory and location, but even with all the changes, the Srnkas try to keep Edna's vision alive today.

Edna Campbell's Bookstore was the original campus bookstore. The store moved off campus in 1932, but Edna still cared about the University and supported the arts there. She also took pride in the quality of merchandise she sold in the store. After the Srnkas bought the store, Al continued to teach at the University, while Liz quit her high school teaching job to run the store.

"[Edna] knew what was good before it was good," Al said. "She had great insight into what good, quality merchandise was, and we have tried to emulate her and choices she would make in choosing some of the things."

The quality of the merchandise is something that keeps the customers coming back, store employee Phyllis Brummit said.

"It is what makes the store different from other gift shops in the area," Brummit said. "It started out being a bookstore with a few gifts. Now we're a gift store with a few books."

The shift in merchandise came approximately 10 years ago when Liz and Al saw that changes were hitting the book industry. Small bookstores were being replaced by bigger mall stores and online sales, Liz said.

"I really had a hard time giving up the books," Liz said. "It was like cutting my left arm off, but it's been long enough now that I realize that I can't not do it and keep my door open."

Because Al taught at Truman while owning the store, Edna's developed a very close connection to the school. The store sells tickets to the community for the Lyceum shows. Al directed the spring musicals at Truman and was faculty adviser for many of the clubs on campus. He even started Franklin Street Singers, Liz said.

Some of the Srnkas' fondest memories come from their relationship with the school. After the Lyceum performances, they would often invite many of the performers back to their home. They are still in contact with some of these performers today, Liz said.

This relationship to the people at the school and in the community is why Liz opens the door each day.

"I truly love what I do, and I love the people," Liz said. "I like the interacting with the customers. I'm at the point now where I don't have to worry about doing the displays and I don't have to worry about a lot of things that I used to do myself, so I can interact with the people even more than I ever did."

One of the regular customers is Stephanie "Stevie" Willet. She has been shopping at the store since she was six years old, when most of the inventory was still books.

"One of the things that's really been great is to see the shop evolve," Willet said. "You can still find something special, just like you could when I was little."

Willet, who lived in Phoenix for 25 years, has moved back to the area and has made visiting the shop a tradition.

"I meet with my sister for lunch, and we try to do that once a week," Willet said. "Then we always come in here afterwards, even if it's just to say hi. There is always something new in."

The store continues to stock new items that appeal to everyone. Within the last couple years they have added the TOMS shoes brand, a brand that Edna Campbell would have approved, Al said, because of its philanthropic work.

The shoes have become a very popular item for the college kids, Liz said. They are also trying to reach out to the community online. They have their own Facebook page and are working on a website.

"We're hoping that is up and going at the end of November," Liz said. "We are real excited about that."

Despite all these changes, Al and Liz are still running the store just as Edna Campbell would have wanted it: with quality merchandise.

"We strive to find things that are unique and different," Brummit said. "Once in a great while, I find a store that comes close to being like Edna's, but no place really touches what Edna's is to me."